How long to image the Hercules Cluster with the DwarfLab DWARF II
From a Bortle 6 suburban sky, the DwarfLab DWARF II needs about 24 min (97 subs of 15 s) for a solid image of the Hercules Cluster. A quick look takes 6 min; a showpiece 1 h 36 min. Under a Bortle 3 rural sky the solid figure drops to 14 min. At Bortle 6 the limit is a mix of skyglow and read noise. In this scope's field it fills 19% of the frame’s short side.
| Sky | Quick lookTarget obvious, still noisy | SolidClean enough to share | ShowpieceSmooth faint detail, print-worthy |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bortle 1Excellent dark site | 3 min14 subs | 13 min53 subs | 53 min212 subs |
| Bortle 2Typical dark site | 3 min14 subs | 14 min55 subs | 54 min217 subs |
| Bortle 3Rural | 4 min15 subs | 14 min57 subs | 57 min227 subs |
| Bortle 4Rural / suburban transition | 4 min16 subs | 16 min63 subs | 1 h 03 min252 subs |
| Bortle 5Suburban | 5 min19 subs | 18 min73 subs | 1 h 13 min291 subs |
| Bortle 6Bright suburban | 6 min25 subs | 24 min97 subs | 1 h 36 min386 subs |
| Bortle 7Suburban / urban transition | 9 min36 subs | 35 min142 subs | 2 h 22 min568 subs |
| Bortle 8City | 13 min54 subs | 53 min213 subs | 3 h 33 min851 subs |
| Bortle 9Inner city | 23 min91 subs | 1 h 31 min364 subs | 6 h 03 min1,453 subs |
Power and kit for this session
Allowing for slewing, focusing and rejected subs, that is about 31 min of run time. The DWARF II’s battery (rated about 3 h) should cover it; a power bank still keeps the phone running the app alive. (Bortle 6, solid image; we allow 30% over the integration time.)
- USB-C PD power bank 10000mAh 18W18 W PD input; runs while charging.
- red LED head torchRed light keeps your night vision; white light costs you twenty minutes of dark adaptation every time.
Affiliate links: the retailer pays us a small commission and you pay the same price. These are search links to the named product, not endorsements of a particular listing; check the listing matches your model.
Everything that fits the DWARF II →
How it frames
The Hercules Cluster is 20′ across. The DWARF II frames 3.19° × 1.79° at 2.99″ per pixel, so it fills 19% of the frame’s short side.
About the Hercules Cluster
The great northern globular, a few hundred thousand stars in a ball a third the Moon's width. Quick and always satisfying.
M13, NGC 6205 · Globular cluster in Hercules · magnitude 5.8 · 20′ · best in May, Jun, Jul. Reachable from mid-northern latitudes (UK, northern US, central Europe) and from the south.
Globular clusters are point sources packed tight, so they come quickly: the core resolves into stars within a handful of minutes on any smart scope. More time deepens the halo and pulls in the faint outer members. Use short subs so the core does not saturate into a white blob, and no filter.
About the DwarfLab DWARF II
The original pocket scope. 24 mm aperture and tiny 1.45 µm pixels mean it is slow per pixel, so bin or downsample and be patient.
15 s is the hard maximum in any mode; DwarfLab recommends EQ mode at 15 s. Two built-in filters, VIS and Astro (IR-pass); no dual-band. The optional UHC filter is no longer sold.
The DWARF II uses fixed 15 s subs, so the only levers you have are the sky you shoot from, the filter, and total time.
Stack across nights. Every smart scope app can continue a stack or you can combine the saved frames on a computer; the figures here are totals, not single-session limits.
Have an image of the Hercules Cluster from a DWARF II? Email it with your total time and sky to [email protected] and it goes here, credited.
Same target, other telescopes
- Hercules Cluster with the ZWO Seestar S50: 7 min from Bortle 6
- Hercules Cluster with the ZWO Seestar S50 Pro: 8 min from Bortle 6
- Hercules Cluster with the ZWO Seestar S30: 8 min from Bortle 6
- Hercules Cluster with the ZWO Seestar S30 Pro: 8 min from Bortle 6
- Hercules Cluster with the DwarfLab DWARF 3: 11 min from Bortle 6
- Hercules Cluster with the DwarfLab DWARF mini: 8 min from Bortle 6
- Hercules Cluster with the DwarfLab Draco: 15 min from Bortle 6
- Hercules Cluster with the Vaonis Vespera II: 7 min from Bortle 6
- Hercules Cluster with the Vaonis Vespera Pro: 16 min from Bortle 6
- Hercules Cluster with the Vaonis Vespera 3: 7 min from Bortle 6
- Hercules Cluster with the Vaonis Vespera Pro 2: 15 min from Bortle 6
- Hercules Cluster with the Unistellar eQuinox 2: 6 min from Bortle 6
- Hercules Cluster with the Unistellar Odyssey: 28 min from Bortle 6
- Hercules Cluster with the Celestron Origin: 5 min from Bortle 6
- Hercules Cluster with the Celestron Origin Mark II: 5 min from Bortle 6
All telescopes for the Hercules Cluster · All targets for the DWARF II